Islamic patterns research project

Arabic patterns or Islamic patterns?

The term Arabic pattern is widely used to refer to Islamic geometric patterns. While this age-old art form might have originated within Arab territories, history shows that the use of geometric patterns in artistic expressions developed as a consequence of the expansion of Islam and the Islamic empire. Arabic patterns would probably not exist without Islam, as is the Islamic religion and its philosophical views that created the theoretical framework for the birth of Islamic patterns.

Islamic patterns are present everywhere in the world where the Islamic faith was adopted in significant numbers, most notably in regions far beyond the borders of the Arab world, such as the areas occupied by the ancients Ottoman and Persian empires, India and a huge extension of other Asian territories.

The term Arabic pattern reflects a common misunderstanding and not necessarily the intention to refer to patterns developed within the Arab world.

While there are many Islamic patterns styles differentiated by the types of symmetries involved as well as by the use of different embellishment techniques, the truth is that there are a number of Islamic patterns styles present in the Arab world.

The Maghreb - or Arab regions of northwestern Africa, for instance, shows Islamic geometric patterns where 8-fold symmetries predominate, the legacy of the Moroccan tradition, while geometric patterns in the Arabian Gulf area show a majority of patterns in 9 and 10-fold symmetries, with Ottoman and Persian influences.

At Nomad Inception, we prefer the term Islamic patterns to Arabic patterns, as the former is broader and better reflects the field of our work.

Our Islamic Patterns research project

Nomad Inception was born as a research project on Islamic patterns. We come from the world of information technology, and our goal was to automate the creation of Islamic patterns respecting all the rules of the age-old art form. We found that a few attempts had been made within the academic world, but the results were affected by a common hindrance: they resembled Islamic patterns, but not always confronted the rules of the art form head on, and consisted mostly of small repetitive patterns.

After much study and research, we have devised a computer system that enables us to automate the creation of Islamic patterns respecting every rule of the age-old art form.

Large Islamic patterns

The technology created allows us to generate designs several orders of magnitude larger than the ones we have found on our trips or in available literature. Islamic patterns are most impressive when the design extends profusely without repeating obvious patterns. The visual effect is completely different when compared with rather small patterns tiled horizontally and vertically in order to cover surface larger than the actual pattern. When the human eye is able to identify a repeating pattern, the brain immediately decodes the puzzle and the impression of grandness and magnificence is suddenly lost. Large designs are mostly found on distinguished locations, such as major mosques or palaces. The reason is simple: few artisans in the world can produce large Islamic geometric designs without tilling patterns, because of the complexity involved in the design phase and the level of difficulty affecting the implementation.

At Nomad Inception, we are able to produce designs much larger than any artisan can. Not just larger, but several orders of magnitude larger. This means we have the ability to cover huge surfaces without repeating geometric patterns. The results are breathtaking.

Original Islamic patterns

We also believe we are able to produce original combinations, a rare feat for our times, we believe. We have produced a number of Islamic geometric designs for which we have found no parallel so far. It is pretty well known that the geometric designs currently created in the Islamic world are copies of motifs revealed in past works, and that contemporary craftsmen base their work on a limited catalog of combinations.

Embellishment techniques for Islamic patterns

By designing Islamic patterns in a CAD environment, we are able to apply interlace embellishments independently of the size of the composition, something very hard to attain via the traditional forms of design, as the process involves highly complex calculations. Interlaces are infinite lines that run along the edges of the polygons forming the patterns and they comply with a very particular rule: they must travel alternately above and below each line crossed. They are regarded as a valuable embellishment as they add to the complexity and intricacy of the geometric design. In small compositions or even large compositions with tilling patterns, interlace embellishments are common. But they are rarely seen in combinations of large motifs, as they are truly difficult to both design and produce.

A rarer form of embellishment is the double-star technique. This technique is produced intersecting interlace lines instead of allowing them to go above and below each other. This technique is simpler than interlaces as the rule adding the most complexity is discarded. However, the technique can be further complicated by adding interlaces to a double-star embellishment. When this second set of lines intersect with each other instead of interlace, then we have a quadruple-star embellishment. There is no theoretical limit to the number of sets of lines we can produce to embellish designs, but even quadruple-stars are hard to find in the Islamic artistic heritage.

Islamic patterns video

The impact of our research

To the best of our knowledge, our technology and the capacity to produce Islamic geometric designs it offers may be unequaled the world over.

It is of our utmost interest to comprehensively explore the implications of our findings, both in the arts and sciences realms. We believe our work on Islamic patterns may turn into a valuable contribution to the preservation and revival of this art form; it may contribute new never-seen combinations, and may even have the potential to breathe life into the art form by making it more accessible through modern digital environments. We are also enthusiastic about the likely contribution it may represent to the many geometric and mathematical studies conducted in the field.

If you are a specialist in Islamic geometric patterns, we will highly appreciate your comments and answer any question you may have. Please, contact us.